World
Middle East
Pfizer vaccine halts severe illness in Israel as Delta variant spreads
The vaccine appears to be less effective in halting the spread of the Delta strain of the virus, although it is shielding against severe illness, according to data from Israel’s government.
- by Alisa Odenheimer and Damian Shepherd
Latest
Hundreds of troops flee to Tajikistan as Taliban takes old US stronghold
A local councillor blamed the US and allies withdrawal for the poor morale of Afghan troops who are mostly outnumbered and without resupplies.
- by Rahim Faiez and Kathy Gannon
‘Rot in hell’: Iraqis curse Donald Rumsfeld’s name on news of his death
When he heard that Donald Rumsfeld had died, former detainee Ali Ridha al-Tamimi told his four children: “This is the person who ruined our country.”
- by Qassim Abdul-Zahra and Samya Kullab
‘Right of self-defence’: Biden launches air strikes in Syria and Iraq
A spokesman says the US is responding to an “ongoing series of attacks by Iran-backed groups targeting US interests”.
- by Phil Stewart
Scientists find a new early human. Meet Nesher Ramla Homo
The fragments of a skull and a lower jaw with teeth are 120,000 to 140,000 years old and could force a rethink of parts of the human family tree.
- by Christina Larson
Khashoggi’s killers had paramilitary training in US: report
US-Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi had gone to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018, where he was abducted and killed.
US swoops on dozens of Iranian websites, blocking them
A semi-official Iranian news agency agency said the US move “demonstrates that calls for freedom of speech are lies”.
- by Nayera Abdallah
Taliban enter key cities in Afghanistan as US prepares to leave
In the past 24 hours, around a dozen districts have fallen to the Taliban — mostly in the country’s north - the culmination of an insurgent offensive.
- by Thomas Gibbons-Neff and Najim Rahim
‘A delicate balance’: Talks to revive Iran nuclear deal fail
The breakdown in talks coincided with confirmation that Iran’s only nuclear power plant had undergone an unexplained emergency shutdown.
- by Jonathan Tirone and Golnar Motevalli
Israel raises nuclear concerns about Iran’s ‘most extreme president yet’
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said Ebrahim Raisi’s election as president should “prompt grave concern among the international community”.
- by Maayan Lubell
Hardline judge under US sanctions elected Iran’s next President
Ebrahim Raisi has been congratulated on his victory by the other two candidates, but his dark past troubles Washington DC.
- by Parisa Hafezi